1911 November – Emma Isaac – Str. City of Erie
POST MARK: Batavia Nov 20 230PM 1911 N.Y.
FROM:
Emma
TO:
Mrs. W. G. Strong
Stafford
Genesee Co.
R.7D N.Y.
c/o Mrs. John Haywood
WRITTEN:
My Dear Mother
What experience do you think I had Saturday night? Well Marion had the’ Croup, I had been to bed an hour and she woke up crying at 11 thirty and barking like a hour, 2 of the’ O’Brian girls stayed with me, I got up and went over and asked Mrs. O’Brian what to give, she said melted lard, one of the’ girls held her hands and I gave her 5 teaspoon fulls she dide’nt vomit, I had the Doctor yesterday, she gave medicine to take every hour, and some to give if she got croupy. she is better, we’ll let you know if I need you you need not worry. she is pading (ill.) as usual Don’t worry How are you How is your patient with love Emma
Emma Grace Isaac (1886-1975) – Author
Emma’s full name is Emma Grace Isaac (nee’ Strong). She was born to Wells George (1862-1924) and Katie A. Strong (nee’ Miner) (1857-1939) on 21 Jul 1886. She would have been a bit older than 25 when she sent this postcard to her mother, Katie. Katie appears to be nursing a patient living at the home of Mrs. John Haywood in Stafford, N.Y., approximately 6 miles away from Emma’s house in Batavia, NY.
On 20 Jul 1908, Emma married Howard Emanuel Isaac (1888-1962) in Batavia, NY at the age of 21, just a day before her 22nd birthday. Howard would have only been 20 years of age. One thing of note is that Emma and her mother both married younger men and had only one child, daughters.
Emma’s daughter, Marion Grace, was born on 17 Mar 1910. She would have been 20 months old when she contracted Croup and her mother sent the postcard to her grandmother. Unfortunately, Marion died on 22 Dec 1932 at the young age of 22. At the time of her death, Marion was a school teacher in the Ithaca Public Schools. Per her obituary in the Democratic and Chronicle (Rochester N.Y.) dated 23 Dec 1932, she had been ill for only four days and died of blood poisoning. The modern term for blood poisoning is Sepsis. Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body’s response to an infection. The body normally releases chemicals into the bloodstream to fight an infection. Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to these chemicals is out of balance, triggering changes that can damage multiple organ systems. If sepsis progresses to septic shock, blood pressure drops dramatically. This may lead to death. People at most risk are individuals that have chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes, kidney or lung disease, or cancer) or weakened immune systems.
Emma, however, died in Stafford, NY in Mar 1975 at the ripe old age of 88, having outlived her parents, husband and only child.
1910 Census
The 1910 census is interesting because it was conducted approximately (18) months prior to Emma sending the postcard to her mother and can provide some insight as to where they were and what they were doing.
The census was conducted on 22 Apr 1910. Emma (23) was living with Howard (22), Marion (1 month) and Emma’s mother, Katie (53) at 290 Swan St. in Batavia, NY. It could be assumed that the mother-in-law was staying there to help Emma take care of the infant Marion. At the time, Howard was employed as a Granite Cutter in a local Marble Works. A separate census shows that Wells was an “inmate” at the Craig Colony for Epileptics in the town of Groveland in Livingston County being treated for what I assume is epilepsy. He continued to be living there at the 1920 census and appears to have died there in 1924.
1930 Census
The 1930 census was conducted approximately 2 years before Marion passes away. Emma (43), Howard (42), Marion (20) and Katie (73) are living together on Main St. in the village of Elba NY. Howard is employed as a machinist in a local garage. Wells having passed away 6 years ago at the age of 62 while still at the Colony.
SS City of Erie
City of Erie was a sidewheeler steamboat on Lake Erie. In her heyday, she was famous for being one of the fastest ships on the Great Lakes. Her original route was from Cleveland, OH and Erie, PA, to Buffalo, NY. Her nickname the “Honeymoon Special” was attributed from the number of newlyweds who traveled to Buffalo, bound for Niagara Falls, on the City of Erie.
CHARACTERISTICS:
Length: 316 ft.
Beam: 78 ft.
Height: 18 ft.
Installed Power: Triple Expansion Engine by Fletcher & Co. (54”, 80”, 96” X 144”, 2200 HP at 31 RPM) with six 12.6’ X 11.9’ scotch boilers.
Speed: 17.5 knots (20.1 MPH)
CHRONOLOGY:
1898 – The City of Erie was built by the Detroit Dry Dock Company in Wyandotte MI for the Cleveland Buffalo Transit Company (C&B).
1898 Feb 26 – Launched
1898 Jun 19 – Maiden voyage from Detroit MI to Cleveland OH. It beat the SS Frank E. Kirby in a race to Put-in-Bay OH.
1901 Jun 4 – The president of Detroit’s White Star Line offered $1,000 to any ship that could beat his SS Tashmoo in a race. J.W. Wescott, president of C&B, accepted the challenge. The course was 82 nautical miles between Cleveland OH and Erie PA. The City of Erie was initially ahead but was soon overtaken by the Tashmoo. The Tashmoo eventually slowed and was passed because the wheelman was not used to steering by compass. The Tashmoo was later forced to slow again due to an overheating condenser. The City of Erie beat Tashmoo by 45 seconds, but was gaining ground. C&B refused a rematch, although it admitted that Tashmoo was the faster ship.
1909 Sep 27 – The City of Erie collides with the schooner, T. Vance Staubenstein. The schooner was sunk, drowning three people.
1911 Nov 20 – Emma Isaac mails a SS City of Erie postcard to her mother, Katie Strong.
1929 – SS City of Erie starts to operate between Cleveland OH and Port Stanley, ONT.
1938 – Retired from service.
1941 – Scrapped by the Otis Steel Co. on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland OH.
Rabbit Hole #1: The Haywoods
Mrs. Haywood’s name is actually spelled Heywood. Anna was born on 19 Nov 1837 and died on 19 Oct 1926 at the age of 88 years old. Her husband John Heywood was born 20 Aug 1829 and died on 11 Mar 1911 at the age of 81. His death was 7-months prior to the sending of Emma’s postcard. Per the 1910 census, she and John were living with two of their adult children, Walter (37) and Edith (31).
In 1915, Anna is living with her daughter Elizabeth Tuttle (53) and her husband, Montgomery (50). Also living at the house are Anna’s three granddaughters: Zelda (13), Vivian (11) and Edith (8). The three girls are actually the daughters of Anna’s eldest son John Christopher (1867-1912) and Martha Rachel (nee Kiphart or Kephart) Heywood (1882-1911). John and Martha were married in Humboldt, CA on 19 Oct 1901 were they resided until their untimely deaths. John was employed as a brakeman with the local railroad, more than likely the California and Northern Rail line. The C&NR primarily ran lumber from the northern California forests to the mills and docks on Humboldt Bay. On 29 Jan 1911, Martha passes away leaving John to raise their three daughters. Less than one year later, on 01 Jan 1912, New Years Day, another tragedy strikes. While at work, John is killed in a train accident. Shortly after his death, John’s younger brother, Walter, and his wife, Edith, travel to California to retrieve the three orphaned girls, returning to Batavia, NY on 20 Mar 1912. Once they arrive, the three girls move in with their grandmother, Anna. This is approximately the time when Emma sends the postcard to her mother, Anna, who is residing at the Heywood residence. Could they the girls or Anna be the “patient” to which Emma refers? Zelda and Edith stayed in the northern New York area and lived to be 80 and 91 years old, respectively. Vivian, however, moved back to California with her husband where she lived to the ripe old age of 96 years old.
Rabbit Hole #2: Gertrude “Gertie” A. Heywood (1886 – 1911)
It turns out that 1911 and 1912 were trying years for the extended Heywood family. Not only did Anna lose her husband, son and daughter-in-law, but then, on Monday, 12 Jun 1911, John and Anna’s niece, Gertrude, was found dead in the Tonawanda Creek near the Lehigh Valley Railroad bridge in Batavia, NY.
At the time, Gertrude was living with her brother, Fred, and his wife, Flora, on their farm in the nearby town of East Pembroke. On Friday morning, 09 Jun 1911, she told them that she was leaving for Batavia and would be staying with the Branton family. She also said that she was to meet Henry Kingdon, a hand on Fred’s farm and old high school acquaintance, at the Hotel Richmond at 11 AM the next morning. At this meeting, she expected Henry to propose and they would then be married in December. If the meeting did not take place, she would send Flora a postcard and would then feel to “be free of him”. She then ominously commented that Henry had threatened her life by stating that he would rather “see her dead than not married to her”.
It turns out that she did not stay with the Branton family. On late Friday afternoon, she arrived at the house of Mrs. Marie Heale. Upon arrival, Gertrude commented about her eight and one-half mile walk and how she had spent all of her earnings from working on her brother’s farm, three dollars, on a hat. The next morning, just before she left for her appointment with Mr. Kingdon at the Hotel Richmond, Mrs. Heale told investigators that Gertrude seemed “despondent” and spoke of “drowning being the easiest form of death”. Mrs. Heale would later find Gertrude’s pocketbook in her house and that it contained a “loan penny”.
Her body was later found on Monday, 12 Jun 1911 by Joseph Fallet and identified by an acquaintance who had worked with Gertrude, William O. Drake, at 5:00 PM. Her watched had stopped at 11:48, the assumed time of her death.
Several individuals came forward claiming to have seen Gertrude on Friday evening. One witness, Eugene Lane, who was waiting for a streetcar when a woman he identified as Gertrude and man had approached within a couple of feet. He heard Gertrude say, “Are you going to do as you say?” The man replied using “foul language”. Gertrude then began to cry and said, “You know what you said when you got here.” The man again spoke harshly. The couple then left. The couple were spotted a while later by Henry Baily. They appeared to be arguing over money. The man called Gertrude a liar and threatened to slap her. Mr. Lane later described the individual as tall, with dark hair and mustache, well dressed and wearing a light fedora. He appeared to be a “traveling man”.
On Tuesday, 13 Jun 1911, the police informed Gertrude’s brother, Fred, of her death. He then traveled to Batavia and to positively identified her body. They then interviewed Mr. Henry Kingdon. He indicated that he knew Gertrude from school and that sometimes they would talk during the evening at Fred’s farm. He said that he had not seen her since leaving work the previous Friday and denied that they were engaged and that he had an appointment with her at the Hotel Richmond in Batavia. He also stated that he had been working all day Saturday with his brother on his farm in East Pembroke. Which his brother then corroborated. Henry did recall that during a conversation he had with Gertrude, the week prior to her death, she indicated to be “keeping the company with a man in Batavia”. Given his alibi and that Henry was 5 feet tall, 6 inches shorter than Gertrude, he was then eliminated as a suspect.
The coroner’s report revealed that she had a sharp deep cut on her right wrist. It was three inches wide and cut to the bone. It had almost severed her hand. She also had a bruise on her left breast that could have been caused by a fall or being struck by a blunt object. Her chest organs looked “badly congested” and there was NO water in her lungs. Given that no one had seen her after she left Mrs. Heale’s house on Saturday morning, her time of death was determined to be 11:48 AM on Saturday, 10 Jun 1911.
The investigation struggled to determine cause of death: suicide or murder with a body dump. During the investigation, it came out that two years prior, while living in Detroit, MI, she had attempted suicide after becoming despondent over a failed love affair. Given this, and her recent actions and comments, her death was eventually ruled a “plain suicide”. But several unanswered questions casts a pall of mystery over Gertrude’s death: Who was she going to meet at the Hotel Richmond? Who was the mystery “Traveling Man” she was seen arguing with? Why did she cut her right wrist when she is right-handed? Why was there no water in her lungs? Also, some news reports questioned the reason for suicide. They stated that her “health was good” and that “she was apparently happy”.
Gertrude’s funeral was held on Thursday, 16 Jun 1911 at the Methodist Church in Oakfield, NY. The town she was born in just a short 24 years prior. She was then interned at Cary Cemetery in Oakfield.